Riding the Storm
by ChaosMarauder
Summary: After meeting up with a boy in the Vile Peaks, Lightning is forced to play a game she had sworn off as a child- or the world may perish. Crappy at summaries, hope u like the story though. btw there are xyz monsters in here. Lanille. HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

Riding the Storm

Author's Note: Hello everyone. This is my first fanfic, and I'm doing it as a crossover between two of my favorite franchises: Final Fantasy and Yugioh! Be warned: this is my first try at fanfiction, so feel free to point out any errors i made. I like constructive criticism. However, flames will be used to light my oven and make tasty snacks for myself which i will then proceed NOT to share with you. XP

A couple of things i wanted to get out of the way: first off, there will not be a duel in every chapter, as is the case with this one, though it will definitely be next chapter. Second, the person dueling will be Lightning. Period. End of story. Don't like it, there's a special button for you called the 'back button'. Finally, although there are duels in tjis fic, I will also follow the normal storyline. So there. I hop you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII or Yugioh! They are owned by SquareEnix and Konami respectively. All cards that i did not make up are the property of their owners, may they be real or fan made. I only own my original characters and cards.

...Geez that's a long disclaimer...

Chapter 1

Pain.

That was the first thing that he felt when he awoke. It spread from the tip of his fingers to the soles of his feet. He hurt so much, he couldn't even think straight. For a moment, he just lay there until the pain started to ebb away slowly.

'Damn...' he thought. 'Michiko said it would hurt...but this is...'

When the pain subsided enough, he finally opened his eyes. A pitch black, starless sky filled his vision. Confused, he tried sitting up, groaning in pain as he did so.

"I gotta start liatening to her," he said. "Otherwise I'm gonna end up dead one of these days."

After a while the pain faded completely, allowing him to stand up and look around at his surroundings for the first time since his arrival...

Click

"Don't move..."

Until he felt the barrel of a gun press into his back.

"Hey! Over here!"

"...crap..."

"Lets rest here."

"I can keep going," he replied.

Lightning loked back over her shoulder at Hope, catching the young boy stumble a bit. His eyes were determined, much moreconfident unlike before, but his stance proved otherwise. He was obviously exhausted.

Lightning shook her head, turning to him fully. "You're about to collapse, i can tell." She unhooked her bag from her waist, setting it on the ground. "We'll rest here for a bit, and then move on."

Hesitantly, Hope nodded, moving to sit against a rock across from her.

"How far from Palumpolum are we?" he asked her as she rummaged through her bag. He watched as she pulled out a bottle of water and some potions, tossing one his way.

"Probably another day or so," she answered after taking one of the potions. "Maybe less if we don't run into any PSICOM."

As she continued going through her bag, taking inventory of what they had to work with, her hand bumped a plastic case. Her eyes widened for a moment in recognition, before she pulled a black, rectangular box out, a rose-like pattern covering the most of it, save for a star on the front.

'I forgot i had this...' she thought to herself.

"What's that?"

Her head shot up at Hope's voice, his question breaking into her thoughts. He was staring at the box in her hand, a confused look on his face.

She immediately shoved the box back in her bag as deep as she could've. "Nothing," she replied. "It's nothing..."

Hope raised an eyebrow at her sudden mood change, but before he could question further...

"AAAARRRGGH!"

Lightning and hope both shot up to their feet, the scream echoing throughout the area. Neither moved an inch, before the sounds of gunshots filled the air.

"Dammit!" Lightning cursed. "PSICOM must be close!"

"What do we do, Light?" Hope asked her, already drawing his Airwing.

"No use in trying to run," she replied, already gathering her things. "Those shots were nearby, which means we won't outrun them. Hopefully we can find them first and take them out." She turned to him. "You ready?"

He nodded. "Yeah..."

(Five minutes earlier...)

"Put your hands where I can see them. Now!"

His hands slowly raised up. "Look Officer, there's obviously been a huge misun-"

"Shut it! Don't speak unless i say so, you filthy l'cie!"

"...um...can i ask a question?"

The gunman raised his eyebrow, though it couldn't be seen through his mask.

"What is it?"

"...who the hell is Lucy?"

Smack!

"DON'T YOU BE SMART WITH ME! YOU DAMN L'CIE!"

"My name is not 'Lucy' or whatever!" he was now laying on the ground, a bump rising on his head from where the man hit him with the butt of his rifle. "It's Kato!"

"Shut it you stupid-"

"Private! That's enough!"

Suddenly, more men dressed in the same suits of armor came into view. All were armed and most were aiming their weapons at Kato.

"Our orders are to bring them in alive, Private," one of them said. Obviously, he was in charge.

"Y-Yes sir!" the gunman replied, guving a salute. "My apologies, Corporal."

"At ease. Now, maybe our friend here can tell us where tbe others are?" he said, directing his gaze towards Kato.

'Others?' he thought to himself. 'What is he-'

"AAAARRRGGHH!"

Everyone jumped at the ear splitting scream that one of the men let out. Looking over, they saw that he was now in flames, instantly collapsing as his body disintegrayed instantly. A man stood from behind where he once was, arm held out with his fist clenched.

"Well," the man chuckeled, standing to his full height, "guess he just couldn't handle the heat..."

The man had short, spikey red hair, almost loking like a flame. His eyes were as black as charcoal, with two red stripes tattooed on his left cheek he wore a brown sleeveless vest with no shirt underneath, and black, ripped jeans tucked into combat boots. His whole right arm had a strange gauntlet covering a majority of it, while his left hand wore a single glove. Upon seeing the man, Kato's eyes widened, and his heart filled with dread.

'That's...!'

"Hey who ar-"

The gunman from before didn't even get halfway through before the newcomer was instantly upon him, grabbing the front of his mask. Instantly, he burst into flames, meeting the same fate as the one before him.

The other soldiers wasted no time firing upon the man after that. The man, however, didn't even flinch as the bullets hit an invisible barrier-like substance, keeping them from hitting them.

"Heh," the man chuckeled to himself. "Didn't anyone tell you losers?" He raised his arm, palm facing the sky. "If you play with fire..." he closed his fist...

"You're gonna get BURNED!"

And slammed it into the ground.

KABOOM!

The result was a fireball so intense, the soldiers didn't even have time to scream before they burned to ashes.

The resulting explosion knocked Lightning and Hope off their perch above the scene, sending them down into the clearing below. Luckily, Hope had managed to cast a Protect spell to keep them from meeting the same fate as the PSICOM soldiers. It didn't, however, help the landing. Lightning landed first, with Hope landing on top of her.

"Oof!"

"Ah! Sorry Light..."

"It's ok. You alright?"

"Yeah..." he said looking up. He saw that the man was headed toward something...wait. Not something. Someone.

"Light-"

"I know," she interrupted, already movung that way with the speed she was known for.

When the heat passed and he could ipen his eyes, the men were gone. He stared at the place they once stood, his eyes wide in horror

'No! Not again! No one was supposed to die!' He looked at the ground, his eyes watering. 'And it's my fault...again...'

A chuckle broke his thoughts, making him look up at the man that did this, who now had Kato in his sights with a sadistic smile plastered on his face.

"They never learn," he sneered, "eh kiddo?"

"Damn you Blake!" Kato snarled eyes narrowed in fury.

"Awwww..." the now named Blake mock pouted. "Is Kato angry? Di I make him mad? HA! What are YOU gonna do kid?" He started moving toward Kato. "You knew we'd come after you! You stole from the Ark, after all." He stopped right in front of Kato, looking right in his eyes. "And now there's no one to help you..."

"Wanna bet?"

Blake's eyes widened as he spun around, only to be sent flying back by a round house kick. He landed hard onbthe ground with a grunt.

Kato looked where he was stand to find a woman standing above him, eyes trained on Blake, and a strange sword in her hand. Only one word went through his mind.

'Whoa...'

Lightning kept her eyes trained on Blake as he struggled to his feet, bringing a hand up to his lip to wipe the blood away.

"You okay kid?" Lightning asked the boy at her feet, not taking her eyes off Blake. That seemed to break him out of his stupor.

"Hey! I'm not a kid! The name's Kato! Why is it so hard for you people to-"

He was interupted by a dark chuckle, which bubbled up into a full blown laugh from Blake.

"HAHAHA! AHAHAHAH!"

'This guy...' Lightnimg thought. 'Somethings up with him.'

As Blake calmed down, he trained his gaze on Lightning.

"Well, isn't this a twist," hr said after a while. "I never thought that I would run into a duelist here."

Kato gasped at that, his eyes widening as he turned to Lightning who only narrowed her gaze.

'A duelist?!'

"I don't know what your talking about," Lightning reasponded, gettimg in her stance. "But I don't really care. You're a threat so it's my job to-"

"Save it."

The sudden change in his tone caught Lightning off guard. He now wore a serious expression on his face, unlike the cocky smirk from before.

"One thing I DON'T stand, is a liar." He raised his gauntlet covered hand, aiming his fist at Lightning. "The only way anyone could even lay a finger on me was if they were a duelist. My Blaze Gauge makes sure of it."

'Blaze Gauge?'

"Light!"

Her thoughts were broken by Hope's arrival, airwing in hand.

"Sorry I took so long," he said. "So who is this guy?"

Blake didn't even seem to notice the sudden intrusion to the conversation, his gaze still firmly set on Lightning.

"So," he said after a while, that smirk back on his face. "What do you say we have a little duel, eh? I win, the kid is mine. You win, you all leave with your lives."

"Wha...? What is he talking about Light?" Hope asked, eyebrow raised. "What does he mean by-"

"PIPE DOWN PIPSQUEAK!" Blake yelled at Hope. "The grown ups. Are talking..." He turned his gaze back on Lightning. "So, ladie we got a deal? I'm being very generous. I mean i could just-"

"No."

Her sudden answer caught everyone off guard. Blake gained an incredulous look, while Kato raised both eyebrows.

"I gave that up a long time ago," she replied. "So forget it."

Blake's eyes narrowed at that. He'd never been turned down before, it was almost alien to him. Then his smirk returned, an idea coming to mind.

"Well, what do you know," he muttered, his arm slowly raising. "Looks like someone..." Fist raised, his hand shot open, palm up.

"Can't handle the HEAT!"

Flames suddenely shot up from the ground, surrounding the area, cutting of any means of escape. The heat was so intense, everyone sans Blake almost instantly broke out into a sweat, despite being so far away from the flames.

"What the..."

"Damn, we're trapped!" Lightning exclaimed

"You like it?" Blake's voice sounded over the flames. "These flamez burn anything organic to ashes instantly. And although it'll take a lot longer, they'll eventually reach you." His smirk widened. "And only I can put the out."

"You're crazy!" Hope shouted. "You'll be caught in the flames too!"

"And that's where my Blaze Gauge comes in. Thanks to this, I can survive a raging inferno without even scorching my boots. You want them put out?" He raised his fist at them again. "You'll have to beat me!"

Suddenly his gauntlet started making clicking and beeping sounds, before five compartments shot out of the side, the top opening up to reveal a digital screen, the number 4000 flashing bright. In short: it became a duel disc.

"Light," Hope whispered, "what do we do?"

Lightning's mind was racing. Things shouldn't have turned out this way. She'd sworn off dueling forever. Ever since that day...

"Hey."

Lightning's head shot up, meeting Kato's gaze. He had a fierce look on his face, and in his hands was...

...a duel disc?!

"Not sure what your problem is with dueling," he started, "but if you don't, we're gonna die." He gained a smirk of his own. "And that would suck, so..."

Lightning looked back at Hope, a panicked expression on his face. She remembered then the promise she had made. To get him tough. To protect him...

She made a decision.

"Right." She grabbed the duel disc from Kato and turned her gaze back to Blake.

"You're on."

Author's Note: And I'm gonna stop right there. Just seemes like this chapter had enough words. The duel is next time. Before i forget, Lightning's deck will be based off my personal deck. So read, review, and look out for the next chapter!

Updates whenever I get the time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(Last time)

"Hey."

Lightning's head shot up, meeting Kato's gaze. He had a fierce lok on his face, and in his hands was...

...a duel disc?!

"Not sure what your problem is with dueling," he started, "but if you don't, we're gonna die." He gaines a smirk of his own. "And that would kinda suck, so..."

Lightning looked back at Hope, a panicked expression on his face. She remembered then the promise she had made. To get him tough. To protect him...

She made a decision.

"Right." She grabbed the duel disc from Kato and turned her gaze back to Blake.

"You're on."

(And now)

"Light?" Hope questioned as Lightning strapped the duel disc to her left arm (AN: Basically the duel acadamy disc, but green) before digging around in her bag and fishing out the box from earlier, opening it to reveal a deck of cards. She then pulled them out - making sure to leave a few inside, Kato noticed - shuffeled the deck and placed them in the slot, turning the disc on with the number 4000 flashing on the screen.

"Stay here, Hope," she replied, walking forward. "I'll handle this."

"Ready when you are, lady," Blake called out, that stupid smirk on his face. She just looked at him with her normal stoic expression.

"Lets get this over with," she replied, coming to a stop. Bringing their duel discs up, they drew their five cards.

"DUEL!" They called out simultaneously.

Lightning: 4000

Blake: 4000

"Ladies first," Blake sneered.

"Fine by me," Ligghtning replied,drawing a card. "I draw!"

'Been a while since I've done this...' Lightning thought as she looked at her hand nefore selecting a card.

"I summon Marauding Captain!"

A card appeared on the field, before a man covered in armor, wearing a red cape and wielding two swords, burst from it as it faded away.

Marauding Captain: level 3 ATK 1200 DEF 400

"Now my Captain's effect activates! Whe he is normal summoned, I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my hand." She pulled another card from her hand. "And I'm choosing Twin-Sword Marauder!"

Another man dressed in armor appeared like the first man. Except he wore a helmet covering his face. Like Marauding Captain, he wielded two swords, but each had three blades and were mounted on his arms.

Twin-Sword Marauder: level 4 ATK 1600 DEF 1000

"Now I lay two cards face down..." two cards appeared face down, like she said. "...and end my turn."

"You're friend seems to know what she's doing..." Kato said as he and Hope watched from the sideline.

"I guess..." Hope replied hesitantly. "I just wish I knew what was going on. I mean..." he looked at Kato beside him. "I don't even know who you are."

"Oh shoot, sorry about that," he apoligized rubbing his head sheepishly. "The name's Kato Cross. You?"

"Hope Estheim. And she's Lightning Farron."

"Huh...interesting names..."

"...what's wrong with my name?" Hope asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing...just watch the duel."

Hope just shook his head.

"Alright, my move! Draw!" Blake exclaimed as he drew his card. Looking over his hand he played his card.

"I activate Magical Mallet! This card lets me shuffle any number of cards back into my deck, then draw cards equal to the same amount. And i think all but one will do." He sent all but one card back to the deck.

"Next i summon Blazing Inpachi!"

Like Lightning before, a card then appeared on the field. But the creature that came from it was clearly not a man. It was basically a giant wooden doll covered in flames with the number 18 onits chest.

Blazing Inpachi: leve 4 ATK 1850 DEF 0

'So that's his card type...' Lightning thought.

"Blazing Inpachi attack Marauding captain!" Blake declared, with his monster pulling his fist back for a punch. "Show him what you've got with Infernal Fist!"

"Light! Look out!"

"Activate trap!" Lightning exclaimed, one of her cards flipping face up, revealing two barrels facing opposite directions, a beam going in one and coming out the other. "Magic Cylinder! This card negates your attack and inflicts damage to your life points equal to your Inpachi's attack points."

The fire from blazing inpachi's punch went into on barrel, shooting back at Blake from the other, hitting him head on.

"Grrrrrr!"

Blake: 4000-2150

"Grrr...lucky shot! I won't fall for that again!" He pulled a card from his hand. "I lay a face down and end my turn."

"Alright here goes! I draw!" Lightning looked at the card she drew, placed it in her hand and selected another. "I summon Drill Synchron."

The monster that appeared was...weird. It was pretty much a ball with a drill on its head, with two more drills poking out on each side as arms and triangular threaded wheels for feet.

Drill Synchron: level 3 ATK 800 DEF 300

"A tuner monster..." Kato murmered.

'Don't tell me...'

"Now I tune Drill Synchron to Marauding Captain!"

Drill synchron started glowing bright until three rings appeared around him, which then flew up into the air as he faded away. Marauding captain jumped up into the rings as they surrounded him.

3* + 3* = 6*!

"I synchro summon Drill Warrior!"

A bright light engulfed MC to where he couldn't be seen anymore. When the light faded a new creature stood in his place. He was brown in color, with drills as shoulder spikes. A yellow scarf was tied around his neck, but the most surprising feature was the drill he had as a right arm.

Drill Warrior: level 6 ATK 2400 DEF 2000

"Wow! A synchro summon!" Kato exclaimed as Lightning's monster appeared. "That's pretty cool!"

"Uhh...psycho what?" Hope questioned, utterly confused by the situation.

"...You've never played duel monsters, have you?"

"I've...heard of it..."

Kato facepalmed.

"Okay," he sighedas he began to explain the rules. "Listen carefully."

"Drill Warrior, attack Blazing Inpachi!" Lightnimg declared as her monster charged her opponent's, drill spinning. Thrusting it forward into Blazing inpachi's chest, tthe wooden doll exploded into flaming splinters which hit Blake, lowering his LP.

Blake: 2150 - 1600

"I end my turn." Lightnimg said, a confident look on her face.

"Grrr! You're gonna pay for humiliating me like that! Draw!" Blake exclaed as he drew. He must have gotten a really good card, because once he saw it, his smirk returned.

"Uh oh..." Hope muttered. "I don't lile that look on his face..." Kato was feeling the same way, his eyes narrowed.

'Don't tell me he's...'

"I play the spell card Onslaught of the Fire Kings!" The card that appeared basically showed a burning phoenix type of creature. Needless to say, it didn't look good.

"When I control no monsters but my opponent does, I can special summon a beast, winged beast or beast warrior type FIRE monster from my deck, though its effect is negated while on the field and it is destroyed during my end phase." He selected his card, his smirk turning to an evil grin as his Blaze Gauge began glowing.

"Oh no..." Kato muttered, a look of fear on his face.

"What? What's happpening?" Hope questioned.

"From the depths of the Inferno comes a creature of malicious power!" Blake chanted, an eerie red glow starting to surround him. "Witness the true fire of my heart!"

All of a sudden the flames arround them seemed to become larger and hotter, while some began to flow towards Blake, forming into a giant bird-shaped creature.

"Come forth, my obedient servant...Fire King High Avatar Garunix!"

As the flames were blown away, what was left behind seemed awe inspiring. A massive, multi-colored bird that seemed to emit pure heat, wearing some sort of aztec-looking armor and a flaming crowwn upon his head.

Fire King High Avatar Garunix: level 8 ATK 2700 DEF 1700

"Oh man, that's not good..."

Hope looked up at Kato, his sudden mood change beginning to make him panic. "W-Why's that?" he asked.

"That's Blake's Energizer Card, the one he uses to win every duel. He's never lost when he uses this card."

Hope looked at Lightning, his face filled with worry. 'Light...'

"Now, Garunix, attack her drill warrior!" Blake shouted as his monster gathered flames in its mouth. "Searing Flame Shot!"

Garunix shot a massive fireball at Drill Warrior, destroying it in a burst of flame and pixels that headed for Lightning.

Lightning: 4000-3700

"I activate my trap!" Lightning quickly recovered, revealing her facedown. The card revealed depicted a graveyard during the night, a purple smoke rising from the tombstones. "Call of the Haunted! This lets me target one monster in my graveyard and special summon it back! And I think I'll bring back Drill Warrrior!"

As she said this, Drill Warrior burst forth from the card, like nothing ever happened.

Drill Warrior: level 6 ATK 2400 DEF 2000

"Heh, like it matters," Blake chuckled, not bothered at all. "However now I play the quick play spell Circle of the Fire Kings!"

The card he played depicted what basically looked like a mini Garunix Flying above a raging inferno, a crown thing in its talons

"This card lets me destroy one fire monster i control in order to bring back another from my graveyard, so goodbye Garunix." As he said this, Garunix exploded into pixels, which then began reforming. "And welcome back, Blazing Inpachi!"

Blazing inpachi: level 4 ATK 1850 DEF 0

"And since I'm still in the battle phase, I can attack your twin-sword marauder!" Blazing Inpachi did just that, punching TS marauder to oblivion.

Lightning: 3700-3550

"Now I lay one face down, and end my turn."

"Alright my move. Draw!" As soon as she saw the card, she narrowed her eyes. But before she could make her move...

"Trap card acctivate! Phoenix Wing Wind Blast!" Hos card flipped over, showing the card's design. "This card lets me send one monster you control back to your hand bu discarding one card from mine. But since your monster is a synchro, it goes back to your extra deck!" As he said tthis a massive wind blew, taking Drill Warrrior with it.

"Damn," Lightning cursed, "don't have a choice now. I play a monster in defense mode and end my turn." As she said this, a facedown card appeared, turned sideways.

"My turn then. Draw!" As he drew the glow from before returned as the temperature seemed to increase around them.

"Now I activate the special effect of Fire King High Avatar Garunix!"

'That aura doesn't feel good,' Kato thought.

"When he is destroyed by a card effect, I can special summon him duringg my next stand by phase, and destroy all other monsters on the field as well!"

"Oh no," Hope muttered in dread. "Light..."

"Now return to me! VOLCANIC RESURRECTION!"

A fiery inferno blasted from around Blake, knocking Hope and Kato off their feet. The sound echoed around the Vile Peaks for miles. When it was clear enough to see, all that remained on the field was Blake's monster, everything else no where to be found.

Fire King High Avatar Garunix: level 8 ATK 2700 DEF 1700

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?! NOW YOUR COMPLETELY DEEFENSELESS!"

"Dammit!" Kato cursed. "If she doesn't do something quick, she's done for!"

"Now Garunix, attack her directly!" As he said this, Garunix gathered flames in his mouth, his sights dead set on Lightning. It looked like she was about to take a severe amount of damage to her life points. Garunix reared his heal back...

"SEARING FLAME SHOT!"

...and shot a giant blast of fire right at Lightning! And yet...

Lightning didn't even blink.

Even as the flames seemingly engulfed her.

"Light!" Hope shouted, a look of horror on his face as his friend seemed to meet her end.

'Dammit!' Kato thought, gritting his teeth. 'Even though she had plenty of life points left, a full scale blast from Garunix is enough to kill...'

Kato's gaze settled on the plume of smoke where Lightning once stood.

'And yet...'

Blake chuckled darkly to himself, seemingly proud of what he'd just done.

"Well," he said after a while, "so much for her." His gaze moved over to Kato. "Now then, where were-"

"I'm not done with you yet."

A look of shock crossed Blake's face as his head shot back to the field. The smoke was beginning to clear, and in the middle of it all...

"Impossible..."

...stood Lightning!

"How the hell did you survive that blast?!"

Lightning just dusted off her jacket, covered in soot and looking annoyed, but otherwise ok. Though her life points took a huge drop.

Lightning: 3550 - 750

"Tch, please," Lightning scoffed, "I've felt a lot worse in real life than that. Now are you done?"

Blake just looked at her incredulously, before a look of pure rage morphed onto his face.

"Grrrr... I don't know how you survived," he growled out, "but it WONT happen again! You're one attack away from losing this-"

"Then finish it." Lightning interupted. "You're so confident, so finish me off. You must have a way to inflict damage to my life points, I mean you are using a burn deck."

Blake just looked at her in surprise. He looked down at his hand, silently cursing hos luck. He couldn't do anything.

"...I end my turn."

"Hmph, thought so," Llightning said as she drew her card. Looking at it, she smirked.

"Let this be a lesson: Always have a back up plan! I summon Gagaga Magician!"

The monster that appeared wore an odd outfit, a sort of bluish black cloak with orange flames at the bottom. His head had a curved pointed had with an orange visor, a mask covering the lower part of his face, and a tuft of white hair visible. A chain encircled him as well.

Gagaga Magician: level 4 ATK 1500 DEF 1000

"Also since I have a Gagaga monster on the field, I can special summon Gagaga Child!"

This time it was a little kid in a school outfit with a cape, the same pointed hat on his head. He also carried a popsicle for some reason.

Gagaga Child: level 2 ATK 800 DEF 1200

"On top of that," Lightning continued, "when i summon him by this effect, I can make his level the same as my magician's!"

Gagaga Child: level 4

"Wait...two level four monsters-" Kato began.

"No way..." Blake looked on in shock. "You're not..."

"I Overlay Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Child!"

As she declared this, her two monsters were engulfed in a pair of bright lights, one red and the other yellow, which shot into the air, swerving and spinning around each other.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay network." The lights ahot into the ground on the field, creatimg a wormhole in the ground. Suddenly a light appeared over the wormhole, which then morphed into a number.

39!

"I XYZ Summon Number 39: Utopia!"

As she said this, a massive shape bathed in light burst from the wormhole. When the light faded, it revealed a giant warrior wearing white and gold armor. Spikes protruded from his helmet, and golden wings were on his back. He also had two lights circling around him, and the number 39 was emblazoned on his shoulder.

Number 39: Utopia: rank 4 ATK: 2500 DEF 2000

"A Synchro AND Xyz user?!" Kato exclaimed, utterly amazed. "She really is good!"

"What's so special about that?" Hope asked, confused.

"It's complicated," Kato replied instantly.

"So," Blake said. "An Xyz monster too eh? Too bad it doesn't matter! Your monster is still-"

"I'm not done yet," Lightning interupted.

Blake blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"When I have Utopia on the field, I can build the Overlay network again, using him and his overlay units for the summon. And that's exactly what I'll do!"

As she said this, Utopia was surrounded by a green orb of sorts. I floated up into the air, hovefing several feet off the ground.

"Now I Xyz Summon Number C39: Utopia Ray!"

The green orb disappeared, revealing a new warrior wearing armor of black silver and gold. He wielded two swords, had black birdlike wings, and had the number 39 emblazoned on his shoulder.

Number C39: Utopia Ray: rank 4 ATK 2500 DEF 2000

"Now I activate his effect! When my life points are 1000 or less, I can remove one overlay unit to increase his attack by 500, and decrease your monster's attack by 1000!"

"What?!"

As she said one of the lights around Utopia Ray flew into his back, which opened up along with his shoulder plates to reveal two mechanical arms and a large sword handle. The arms pulled on the handle, revealing a giant sword with a black blade. At the same time the flames around them seemed to decrease in size.

Utopia Ray: 2500-3000

Garunix: 2700-1700

"But it gets worse for you," Lightning said holding up the last card in her hand. "I activate, from my hand, the effect of ZW - Unicorn Spear, allowing me to equip him to Utopia Ray and increase his attack by 1900!"

Utopia Ray: 3000-4900

"Impossible!" Blake shouted, his face morphed inti a snarl, his eyes wide. "There's no way! I NEVER-"

"Would you PLEASE just shut up?!" Lightning shouted, getting annoyed by this whole ordeal. "If you didn't want to lose, you should have stayed home! Utopia Ray! Attack Garunix!"

Utopia charged at the weakened phoenix, his gianlt blade glowing with a dark light...

"Rising Sun Eclipse Slash!"

...which then was brought down upon Garunix, cleaving him in half. The creature gave a cry of pain, before exploding in a fiery inferno. The flames from the explosion flew at Blake at high speeds hitting him head on.

"AAAAAARRRGH!"

Blake: 1600-0

Winner Lightning!

As the duel ended, the flames around them extinguished, letting their surroundings come into view. Blake lay face down onn the ground, unconscious. Lightning approached him warrily, her gunblade at her side. When she was sure he was out cold, she folded her gunblade up and put it back in its sheath, walking away. Loking back at the others she called out to them.

"We should get moving," she said. "PSICOM will surely have heard that throughout the Peaks."

With that she started walking in the opposite direction at a fast pace, while Hope and Kato ran to catch up.

AAAAAAND I'm done! Whew that was a lot!

Did I make a good choice in cards? Was the duel played out good enough? Review and let me know! Flames will be fed to my pet Garunix! XD


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing used in this story save for my oc and original cards.

Lightning groaned under her breath for what felt like the hundredth time. She, Hope and the other kid - Kato she remembered - had been traveling through the Vile Peaks for a few hours since she had beaten Blake. She 't know why he was after Kato, or where Kato even came from. She hadn't even taken the time to get a good look at him, like she does with everyone new shee meets. No, she was more concerned about the duel disc still strapped to her left arm.

She couldn't get the damned thing off!

She had tried everything - from pulling with her arm to pushing with her leg - short of cutting off her own arm, which she was beginning to consider as her only option left, when she remembered she wasn't alone. She turned to her companions after a while, noting their expressions.

Hope was trying hard not to show a smile on his face, while Kato had a , shaking his head. A quick glare shut them both up. After a while Lightning sighed, before addressing the kid.

"Kato, right?" she asked.

"Yep," was his response, "Kato Cross. Need some help?"

"That would nice," she said.

Kato walked over to her and took her arm, searching over the arm guard, before pressing a button. In a quick flash of light, the duel disc disappeared, only to be replaced by a silver bracelet.

"I'm afraid I can't take it off, seeing as I don't have the tools to do so. However that should make it easier to manage than its bulkier form. It also keeps your deck safe, so no need to worry about that."

Lightning nodded her thanks, as she saw an overhang ahead of them. Heading straight for it she looked back at the others.

"We'll head over there and rest for the night. At dawn we head for Palumpolum."

"Right," Kato agreed, following after her with Hope right behind him. Upon reaching the overhang, Lightning sat down and looked at Kato, finally being able to take his appearance.

He looked to be about 5'4, years old, maybe older. His hair was a dark purple, almost black, kind of an odd color for a boy, but she really didn't have room to talk. He wore a red jacket open over a black t shirt, with some kind of design on it, skrt of an arrow kind of thing. He had black jeans torn at random areas on the legs, and red and black sneakers. Not really appropriate for trekking through the Vile Peaks. But his feature were his eyes.

They were completely silver.

Not a kind of hazel-like silver either. They looked like two coins with pupils. And if she looked hard enough, they seemed to glow in the moonlight.

As if he could was studying his eyes, Kato immediately looled away, apained expression on his face, before moving to take a seat against the wall of rock. Lightning's gaze followed him, before taking out a cloth from her bag, removing her blazefire from its sheath, and beginning to wipe it clean. Hope looked between the two, a confused look on his face, before moving to sit by Lightning.

Needless to say the silence that followed was pretty awkward.

After a few minutes of that, Lightning decided to speak up, still intently cleaning her blade.

"So," she began, "you still haven't told us who that guy was, why he was after you, or what you are doing out here in the first place."

Kato didn't even look up at the sound of her voice, only narrowing his eyes, before sighing deeply.

"It's...a long story..."

Lightning simply flipped her blade over, finally done with one side, before beginning to clean the other. Hope was fast asleep at this time, having passed out almost immediately.

"Well then, you better get started," she responded.

Kato just sighed again, before starting his story.

They call us Chromes, people with unique abilities, traits, or powers. Depending on your parentage, you could have any number of them. No one knows how we came to be, but once we did, our numbers spread. Pretty soon, half the population were Chromatic, as was the term.

At first, everything was fine. Everyone lived peacefully side by side, until an organization known as The Ark popped up out of no where and started recruiting Chromes for . If they came to one, and offered you a place in their ranks, then odds were you should accept. Those who didn't...weren't seen again.

At first it seemed like some kind of cult, and the local law enforcement tried to deal with the sittuatuon. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly work out. The Chromes who were a part of The Ark decided they wanted complete control. So they took it.

They launched a full scale assault on every major city and capital across the globe, killing innocent people, and demanding complete control. This started an immense war against the Chromes, leading many deaths. Eventually though, the Chromes were victorious, and to ensure that anyone that wasn't Chromatic ever tried to rise against their authority, they had them all killed. A few years later though, a new kind of Chrome appeared.

Malos. Chromes who basically had no abilities whatsoever, and were seen as an anomaly that should be put down. However, the Ark allowed them to remain, seeing as they were techically still Chromatic, even though they were powerless. To appease the people, though, they were grouped into a different area away from the public, and began neglecting malos to the point that they had enough. They formed their own groups to try to stop the oppression, to gain equality among the people.

None succeeded.

Eventually, the malos turned to card games to lighten their spirits, the most identifiable being Duel Monsters. While it had been a pretty popuular game before, but it became even moreso for the malos. It was seen as the only thing that couldn't be us.

Of course that didn't last long. Eventually, Chromes learned of the game and how happy it made us. However, they believed because we were 'inferior', that we didn't deserve this happiness. So they began 'confiscating' decks from people, making sure they 'new their place'.

However, the Ark soon learned of the game, and grew interested. They ran tests, I'm not really sure why, and somehow began integrating it into their powers, like Blake back there. No one knows how this was done, but those that did became personal bodyguards in the Ark, and became known as Alpha Chromes. Each member was given special duel disks called Gauges, a device which amplified a Chromes power tenfold. The Alphas came to be feared, and it was near impossible to fight them, as the Gauges protected them from those who weren't duelists.

Deciding they had had enough, Malos rose against them again, banding together to form an underground group called Maxima, with the sole purpose of destroying the Ark. I joined the group when I was thirteen. The Ark had caused the death of my parents, so naturally, I wanted revenge. I stayed in the Homelands, as we called the area, until a few days ago, when I got my first mission.

We had found a facility where the Ark was developing Gauges, and decided to raid the nearest lab where they were being made. It took a while, and we lost a lot of people, some who were my friends, but my sister, Michiko and I got our hands on one. Unfortunately we were instantly surrounded by Ark soldiers. Michiko said I had to get out of there and used some kind of tech - she was always good with that stuff - to teleport me here.

"Unfortunately, she may have miscalculated," Kato explained, finishing his rather lengthy story. "Because I have NO idea where I am. I was supposed to be teleported to headquarters."

By this time Lightning had finished cleaning her gunblade, folding it back into its sheath. She was gazing at tbe ground, but she heard every word that was said.

"So you're from another world," Lightning stated when he had finished, "stole something of incredible value, which I'm guessing is THIS-" she pointed to the bracelet on her left wrist "-and that guy was a 'Chrome' after you who wanted it back." She paused as he nodded, then shrugged "Seems simple enough."

*facefault*

"How is all that simple?!" he exclaimed, a comically shocked look on his face. "You mean you actually-"

"I've heard stranger things before,".she interrupted, closing her eyes. Before he could question her statement she layed her head back to try to get comfortable.

"We should get some sleep," she explained. "We've got a long way to go tomorrow."

Begrudgingly, Kato took her advice, laying back to try to get some sleep.

AN: Hello! I'm back and I've revamped this chapter! I wasn't happy with the first time I wrote it, so I did it again. Hopefully, this time I did better. Let me know if you agree! I will try to get the next chapter up soon.

Also, if you guys want to give me suggestions on card Archetypes for Lightning's opponents, just leave a review. I will be looking forward to them!

Read and review.


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